Screen Quick Reference

Basic Operation

Description Command
Start a new session with session name screen -S <session_name>
List running sessions / screens screen -ls
Attach to a running session screen -x
Attach to a running session with name screen -r <session_name>
Detach a running session screen -d <session_name>
Kill a running session screen -X -S [session # you want to kill] quit
Accessing a screen that is already attached screen -r -d [session name]

Getting Out

Description Command
detach Ctrl-a d
detach and logout Ctrl-a D D
exit screen Ctrl-a :
force-exit screen Ctrl a C-\

Help

DescriptionCommand
Show help Ctrl-a ?

Window Management

Description Command Notes
Create new window Ctrl-a c
Change to last-visited active windowCtrl-a Ctrl-a flip-flop between two windows
Change to window by number Ctrl-a <number> only for windows 0 to 9
Change to window by number or name Ctrl-a ' <number or title>
Change to next window in list Ctrl-a n or Ctrl-a <space>
Change to previous window in list Ctrl-a p or Ctrl-a <backspace>
See window list Ctrl-a “ select a window to change to
Show window bar Show window bar if you don't have window bar
Kill current window Kill current window not recommended
Kill all windows Kill all windows not recommended
Rename current window Ctrl-a A

Split Screen

Description Command
Split display horizontally Ctrl-a S
Split display vertically Ctrl-a |
Jump to next split Ctrl-a tab
Remove current split Ctrl-a X
Remove all splitsbut the current one Ctrl-a Q

TIP: On Ubuntu you can install progress which can monitor running progresses such as tar, rsync, cp, mv and more. Install it like this.

apt install progress